Valley says goodbye to Youngstown police captain

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — Dozens of area police officers and community members bid a final farewell Thursday to a longtime member of local law enforcement, city police Capt. Kenneth Centorame.

Services were Thursday morning in St. Matthias Church on the city’s South Side. Centorame had been a member of the Youngstown Police Department, joining in 1975 and moving through the ranks to captain.

Centorame died late last week after a battle with leukemia. He was 56.

Officers from departments across the Valley came to the church to say goodbye with prayer and hymns. Dozens of marked and unmarked police cars lined the streets around the church.

Bagpipes played as Centorame’s coffin was carried from the church to a waiting hearse. A procession including marked cars from Youngstown State University, Austintown, Canfield, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department and four dozen civilian cars followed the hearse carrying his body through the lower South Side and downtown.

Most in attendance said Centorame will be remembered for his service to the community and the example he set as an individual.

Mahoning County Sheriff Randall Wellington was a captain with the Youngstown Police Department when Centorame was hired as a patrolman in 1975. Centorame worked under Wellington after Wellington was appointed chief of police.

“He was a wonderful family man and a dedicated police officer who strived for education and was a prime example of an officer and a person,” Wellington said after the funeral services. “He will be missed.”

Dave Campana, a retired captain with the department, said Centorame left a lasting impression on anyone he met in his personal life or on the job.

“He was one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Even those who met him one time on the job knew they were in good hands,” he said.

Dennis Tyler, a retired detective/ sergeant with Youngstown Police Department, told those attending the funeral that Centorame was the best friend he ever had. He said the best way to describe Centorame is to say he was the type of man you would want your daughter to marry.

jgoodwin@vindy.com